Citizen satisfaction with democracy in India
India: Citizen satisfaction with democracy was 0.5969 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in India, 2001–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen satisfaction with democracy in India is 0.5969, measured in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.3% on the previous year and up 13.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen satisfaction with democracy in India peaked at 0.9743 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.4495, in 2001.
India ranks 34th of 131 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in India, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0.4495 | — |
| 2002 | 0.6005 | +33.6% |
| 2003 | 0.7429 | +23.7% |
| 2004 | 0.6113 | -17.7% |
| 2005 | 0.4804 | -21.4% |
| 2006 | 0.4895 | +1.9% |
| 2007 | 0.501 | +2.4% |
| 2008 | 0.5085 | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 0.5146 | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 0.5243 | +1.9% |
| 2011 | 0.5313 | +1.3% |
| 2012 | 0.5398 | +1.6% |
| 2013 | 0.546 | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 0.6538 | +19.8% |
| 2015 | 0.7607 | +16.3% |
| 2016 | 0.8668 | +13.9% |
| 2017 | 0.9743 | +12.4% |
| 2018 | 0.6012 | -38.3% |
| 2019 | 0.5984 | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 0.5969 | -0.3% |
India compared with similar countries
- India's 0.5969 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.2275. (31 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen satisfaction with democracy in India changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | -38.3% | 0.9743 | 0.6012 |
| 2002 | +33.6% | 0.4495 | 0.6005 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.5442 | 0.4495 | 0.7429 | 9 |
| 2010s | 0.6597 | 0.5243 | 0.9743 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5969 | 0.5969 | 0.5969 | 1 |
Countries ranked near India
More social development data for India
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 238,643 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 42,610 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 42,610 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen satisfaction with democracy in India?
- Citizen satisfaction with democracy in India was 0.5969 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9743 in 2017.
- What is the lowest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4495 in 2001.
- How does India rank for citizen satisfaction with democracy?
- India ranks 34th out of 131 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen satisfaction with democracy rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this India data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen satisfaction with democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens are satisfied with democracy in their own country. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how citizens' satisfaction with democracy.